Led Zeppelin had Tolkien. Metallica had Lovecraft. But Snail Mail, Dua Lipa, Taking Back Sunday, Why Don’t We, Hanson, and countless others have J.K. Rowling, and her story of the boy with a lightning-shaped scar.
Released in the United States 20 years ago, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone began the seven-book saga with a loud, hairy giant bursting into suburbia — not unlike a certain Twisted Sister video — to rescue a neglected boy from his oppressive relatives, bringing him into a magical new realm. Rowling’s books captivated readers globally and, in doing so, brought together a rather unlikely cross-section of musicians, from British pop stars to Warped Tour veterans to metal heads to country legends. As these artists tour the world, signing autographs and writing hit songs, just know that deep down each one of them knows exactly which Hogwarts House they’d be sorted into — should the occasion arise. [Warning: Spoilers ahead.]
Ever go to a midnight book release?
Zac Hanson: The first book was released in the U.S. when I was 12, right around the same time as our band was first having global success. Nearly a decade later in 2007, I was waiting in line with my wife at a bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, watching the clock count down to midnight so we could pick up a copy of Deathly Hollows. Now a decade later, I am reading the books and watching the movies with my kids, thinking my 10-year-old might be ready for a trip to Hogwarts.
What Hogwarts House do you belong in?
Zac Hanson: Gryffindor.